moavot



H. L MQAVOY. Fruit and Oyster Packing; Own.

No. 231,922. Patented Sept. 7, 1880.

NJEI'ERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON, D C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH L'. MOAVOY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES KOPPELMANAND JAMES FRYER, OF SAME PLACE.

FRUIT AND OYSTER PACKING CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,922, datedSeptember 7, 1880.

Application filed June 19, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HUGH L. McAvoY, ofBaltimore, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Fruit and Oyster Packing Oans,of which the following is a specifi cation.

The invention relates to an improvement in the ordinary fruit and oysterpacking can,

to which is made of the tin-plate of commerce.

Owing to the sharp competition among manufacturers to produce cansofthis description at a low cost, they have resorted to the use of aso-called tin-plate whereof lead is a constituent in large proportion 6fthe alloy used for coating or plating the iron sheets. Fur thermore, thejoints or seams of the can are secured by a solder in which lead is aprincipal constituent. Packing-cans having these chjectionable featuresare now in almost universal use, and as a consequence certain of thefruits and vegetables, and also oysters and meats, which have beenpreserved in these cans are frequently discolored, and it is alsoalleged that the same are sometimes contaminated to such extent by thepoisonous metal as to be decidedly detrimental to health. Thisobjectionable metallic alloy into which lead enters is not confined tothe poorer qualities of tin, but some of the first quality of tin-platecontains a large quantity of lead.

The alloy of tin and, lead will oxidize readily, and the oxide of leadthus formed is soluble in acetic, lactic, malic, and citric acids, the

3 5 last two of which exist, in common fruits. By the action of theseacids is formed the salt known as sugar .of lead.

Lead compounds are 'cumulative poisons; and though the quantity may beminute which 0 is imparted to the contents of one can, yet persons whohabitually use canned goods may thus lose their health. The desideratumis a tin can which is not open to these objections,

and which shall yet be of such moderate cost in carrying out myinvention the finished cans are filled with the plating solution and thepoles of the battery are inserted through the open top, but a very brieftime being required 5 to effect the deposit of a sufficient amount ofthe silver to answer the purpose.

While for-reasons of economy I prefer a method of effecting the platingwhich omits plating the outside, it will be understood that, so far asthe desired result is concerned, the can may be plated both inside andoutside.

This improvement may be applied to packing-cans of any shape, such asthe ordinary round can or the squaie can so largely used for packingmeat.

The advantages resulting from this manner of finishing tin cans arenumerous. It prevents injury to the cans contents by obviating V theliability of the acid in the case of fruit to attack the otherwisepoisonous metal; it covers the cut edges 1) of the tinned iron, which,even if not poisonous, remain, so that the iron is exposed to the actionof the fruit-acid and thus discolors certain fruit, such as peaches 7 5and pears; it tends to make the joints tight, and by protecting-thejoints from the action of the fruit-acids prevents subsequent leakage,for a joint tight at the outset (even though not well secured) willremain tight.

Dealers and others who have on hand at the close of a season a stock ofcanned goods in these improved cans need not sacrifice them by a forcedsale, as many do now, because they will not deteriorate.

Having described my inventioml claim and desire to secure by UnitedStates Letters Pat- 1. A tin-plate can for alimentarysubstances, whoseinside is coated, by electro-deposition, 0 with a metal harmless to thecontents of the can, as set forth.

2. A ti n-plate can for alimentary substances, whose inside is coated,by electro-deposition, with a metal which, in contact with the con- 5tents of the can, will not oxidize and form an injurious salt, as setforth.

HUGH L. MGAVOY.

Witnesses GEO. A. BOYDEN, Guns. B. MANN.

